Grant staff delivered a status update on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) subrecipient grants in a work session on Oct. 27, 2025. The city’s grant specialist, Brian Craft, said the City of Las Cruces received approximately $24.9 million in two tranches, of which roughly $9.5 million had been subgranted to community partners.

Craft said all ARPA funds were encumbered by Dec. 31, 2024 and must be fully spent by Sept. 30, 2026. He said the city is managing subgrants through three administrative tracks: community grants (finance/grant administration), housing grants (Housing & Neighborhood Services) and workforce grants (Economic Development).

Representatives of roughly 10 organizations presented project status, budgets and outcomes. Highlights provided by presenters (figures as reported in presentations and marked "as of Oct. 15" when given):

- Boys & Girls Club of Las Cruces (Ashley Ocheverria): initial award $1,388,800; $241,029 remaining. Ocheverria said the Club had raised about $6.5 million toward a new facility and aimed for $7.5 million to break ground in early 2026. She noted ARPA funds enabled the organization to pay for acquisition and avoid taking a mortgage while fundraising continued.

- Catholic Charities of Southern New Mexico (Stephanie Martinez): initial award $550,000; $331,420 remaining. Martinez said funds supported rental and utility assistance and expanded access to free mental-health counseling for residents affected by pandemic-driven cost increases.

- Community Action Agency of Southern New Mexico / Family Prosperity Demonstration (Donna Hummer): initial award $1,700,000; $78,327 remaining. Hummer described a guaranteed-cash transfer pilot that provided $500 monthly for 18 months to 150 households (with a comparison group) and said preliminary findings indicate about 73% of payments were spent locally; staff are preparing a data report.

- Cruces Creatives (Sandy Smith): initial award $1,000,000; $151,149 remaining. Smith said the program exceeded its goal by reaching 20,675 students with project-based learning, internships and maker-space activities and described youth internship outcomes.

- Jardine de los Niños (Michelle Adames): initial award $350,000; $160,137 remaining. Adames said ARPA supported expansion of trauma-informed behavioral-health services and allowed the center to provide clinic-based therapy, staff training and community outreach; reported service counts exceeded initial targets.

- Mesilla Valley Community of Hope (Nicole Martinez): initial award $300,000; $98,890 remaining. Martinez described a landlord risk-mitigation program that covered extraordinary damages, cleaning and limited rent arrears; she reported 28 landlords used the program and 102 clients benefited.

- ARPA housing projects: Natalie Green (Housing & Neighborhood Services) reported Oak Street Veterans Apartments rehabilitation is complete (22 units) and Peach Tree Canyon Phase 1 (144 units) is under construction (about 60% complete); the city used ARPA as part of capital stacks for some housing projects.

- Workforce and training: economic development and education presenters described programs that funded industry certifications, apprenticeships and mobile training (examples included Mesilla Valley EDA's Automate Up, Southern New Mexico IEC apprenticeship mobile lab, Engage New Mexico's home-based provider accelerator and DACC's personal and career discovery cohorts). Several presenters said funds were fully dispersed for workforce grants and provided metrics on certifications and cohort outcomes.

Presenters repeatedly described how ARPA funds were used to stabilize households, increase training and support capital projects; several speakers gave anecdotal and preliminary evaluation results (for example, Community Action Agency’s cash transfer pilot and DACC's training-to-employment outcomes). Council members asked about program continuation and potential local matches or other funding sources; presenters said many are pursuing private donations, state funding or other revenue sources to sustain programs beyond ARPA.

City staff noted the U.S. Treasury had not yet issued full closeout guidance for ARPA and said the finance department will follow federal instructions when they are available. The council and presenters discussed next steps and follow-up, and staff stood for questions at the session’s end.